GMT rates GBACW’s complexity a “7” for good reasons — though there are undoubtedly whiz kids who immediately grasp the intent of the series rules, some of us poor mortals require a reread or two before we sit down at the table. This is the first of what will hopefully be a series of articles aimed at the latter group. Each article will tackle a topic that experience indicates is likely to generate questions, both from those new to GBACW and from veteran players alike. A word of caution: There’s no substitute for reading the rules.

Introduction

One of GBACW’s most appealing features is the way it incorporates “Fog of War”. The system achieves uncertainty via three primary mechanisms: variable “Efficiency”, random activation, and Brigade Orders Change. This article will explore Efficiency and its modifiers; i.e., the factors that determine an army’s capabilities for a given game turn. A superscript numeral following a term indicates the term is defined in the footnotes. The abbreviation, “SR”, stand for Series rules. As several leader ratings can modify Efficiency, the Leaders graphic from the 2019 series rules is reproduced here for the reader’s convenience.

Efficiency

The number of AMs awarded to a command¹  in GBACW is sometimes fixed, but more often varies as a function of several factors. The most important of those factors is Efficiency, GBACW’s mechanism for randomly determining how active a command can be during a given turn. In most GBACW scenarios the players draw Efficiency for each Corps command that has units on the map or due to enter the map that turn. In smaller battles that feature commands of less than corps size, (e.g., “1st Kernstown” in Death Valley), the player will draw for those lesser commands. Efficiency may also be fixed, as in many of the Gringo!² scenarios. Additionally, reinforcements may be prescribed a number of AMs³ for their turn of entry, no matter what the Efficiency of their parent corps.

Efficiency, however, is merely the starting point in determining the number of AMs a command will use. Let’s first take a look at how Efficiency might be adjusted (SR 5.2), and then consider how it translates into Activations (SR 5.23 through 5.28).

The Overall Commander’s Initiative⁴ Rating

SR 5.22 tells us that an Army Commander may use his Initiative Rating to increase the Efficiency of one or more corps, provided the corps commander is within the Army Commander’s command range⁵ at the start of the turn. For each Initiative point he has, the Army Commander may raise the Efficiency of one corps by one, to a maximum of 4. SR 9.32 qualifies this by saying an Army Commander who expended more than 10 MP in the immediately preceding turn may not use his Initiative Rating for any purpose.

Not all Army Commanders are created equal. In River of Death, Braxton Bragg and William Rosecrans get no respect. Their Initiative ratings are both zeros, and due to a special rule Bragg is often worse than that. In Dead of Winter Rosecrans, at least, has a rating of 1. Shift the focus to the eastern theater, and things improve. In Three Days of Gettysburg R.E. Lee’s rating is a “1”. Jubal Early’s rating is a 1, and Phil Sheridan’s a 2 for Death Valley‘s 1864 battles. These ratings can be powerful assets. Sheridan, in particular, may be his army’s most potent weapon.

Some scenarios do not feature an “Overall Commander” (army commander). In Cedar Mountain (Twin Peaks), for instance, both the Union and Confederate forces are led by corps rather than army commanders (although John Pope does appear late in the game). Corps commanders have an Efficiency rating, but do not have an Initiative rating.

There’s also a subtle but vital consideration we must discuss at this point. As the maximum Efficiency for a corps is 4, a corps that draws a 4 Efficiency chit cannot benefit from an Overall Commander’s Initiative point. That includes corps commanders with an Efficiency rating of -1. The key to understanding this lies in the fact that a corps commander’s -1 is applied to his in-range division leaders. It does not affect the corps Efficiency level. If it did, it would be listed in SR 5.22, rather than 5.23. However, it is of course the case that an Army Commander with a positive Initiative rating could benefit any corps commander drawing less than a 4 Efficiency.

Calculating Division AMs

Moving on to SR 5.23, we see that corps Efficiency is the starting point for determining the number of AMs each of the corps’ divisions will receive. Adjustments at the division level are as follows:

• The corps commander’s Efficiency Rating. This rating has an asymmetric effect. If it is positive, it may be used to increase AMs for one division by one, or, in the case of that rare corps commander with a rating of “2”, increase AMs for one division by two, or for two divisions by one each. If it is negative, however, it decreases the AMs for all divisions whose leaders are within the corps commander’s range. 
• If out of command, the division receives one less AM than specified by the corps’ Efficiency. Note that, if the corps commander’s Efficiency Rating is a -1, an out-of-command division will “break even”, as it would lose an activation whether or not it was in command.

Some division leaders have positive or negative Activation Ratings. Add or subtract the rating to the ongoing calculation of AMs to be allotted, to a maximum of four or minimum of one. If that division leader is out of command, three AMs is the maximum he can have.

Twin Peaks is an exception, as both battles in that game feature 45-minute turns. Maximum AMs per turn are thus three, with varying limits for out of command divisions (see the section on “Fixed Efficiency”, below).

• Efficiency Transfer (SR 5.4). If a player uses this rule, it will affect AMs for at least two divisions, and maybe three. The example in the illustration below addresses a case involving only two divisions.
• Combat Ineffective⁶ divisions may activate only twice (maximum), regardless of any beneficial ratings listed above. If corps Efficiency and its adjustments leave such divisions only 1 AM, then that is what they receive.

Brigade Activation

Only two of the factors that can affect divisions apply to brigades:

• A Combat Ineffective brigade⁷ may activate only twice (maximum). If its division is limited to one AM,  then that is what the brigade receives as well.
• If out of command, the brigade activates one less time than its parent division, with a minimum of once. The upcoming Into the Woods will feature an exception to this minimum.

Individual Units

A unit that starts the turn outside the command radius of its brigadier is out-of-command and activates one less time than its division, just as if it were a separate brigade. There is no extra penalty if both the unit and its brigade are out of command. However, there’s an exception to this — in 1st Manassas (Red Badge of Courage) such units are penalized with the loss of a further activation in such circumstances — they would activate two fewer times than their division. If that leaves them with no activations, they do nothing during that turn. The upcoming Into the Woods will feature a very limited version of this same penalty.

A Word on March Orders

Commands or units under March Orders activate only once, upon drawing the March Order AM. However, they may move up to the equivalent of four activations at that time (but see the Fatigue⁸ rules before deciding to double-time like that). There are exceptions, of course.

• On-map commands being assigned March Orders may, during their first turn under those orders, only move a number of activation equivalents equal to the number of times they would have activated if they had not been under March Orders. But since the Division Orders segment follows the Efficiency segment, the player is able to weigh his options before assigning March Orders to those commands. [SR 5.28]
• Twin Peaks’ 45-minute turns limit commands under March Order to the equivalent of three activations. Their Fatigue thresholds are correspondingly lower, too.

March Order commands’ capabilities have nothing to do with any of the factors listed previously in this essay. Command status, Efficiency and Activation ratings, even Combat Ineffectiveness neither enhance nor degrade movement capabilities for commands under March Orders.

Their advantage doesn’t stop there. Commands under March Orders may also attempt to change orders when the March Orders AM is drawn; i.e., before they move. If they succeed, their March Order activation is immediately over, but they may activate using their usual division AMs for the rest of the turn, if any remain to be drawn [SR 6.25].

Similarly, if the enemy shocks or uses small-arms to fire at a command under March Orders, the latter switches to Advance Orders. Unless the March Order AM was previously drawn, it may now activate under any remaining division AMs drawn [SR 6.26].

Note that, no matter whether a command under March Orders switches orders voluntarily or involuntarily, its “chain of command” plays no part in determining how often it can activate during the remainder of that turn, as long as its March Order AM wasn’t previously drawn. It’s as if it were automatically “in command” at the start of the turn. That makes a certain amount of sense when you think about it. Who would be marching around in a formation that vulnerable without orders to do so? However, Brigade or Division Combat Ineffectiveness will limit the number of available activations under division AMs to two [SR 13.23 and 13.32].

Fixed Efficiency

The GBACW series includes several games in which fixed Efficiency plays a lesser or greater role. Three Days of Gettysburg and Death Valley both include fixed Efficiency for Artillery tracing command to artillery commanders/leaders, or, in the case of Confederate artillery in Death Valley‘s 1862 battles, directly to Stonewall Jackson. Death Valley‘s 1862 games go further, fixing Efficiency for the cavalry of both sides, except for several Union cavalry regiments assigned to infantry brigades.

Fixed Efficiency plays a greater role in Gringo! and its two modules, Battle with the Gringos and Churubusco. Most of these battles are small enough that drawn AMs activate the entire army, with the US typically having an advantage over the Mexicans. “Buena Vista” and “Monterey”, the bigger battles, use variable Efficiency. Battles with the Gringos simplifies things still further, as commands/units are typically not penalized for being out of command.

Twin Peaks takes different approaches to the two battles it features. As in Death Valley’s 1862 battles, Cedar Mountain fixes AMs for the cavalry of both sides, for the Union artillery when subordinate to its artillery leader, and for Confederate artillery reporting directly to Jackson. Cedar Mountain also offers an optional rule fixing Efficiency for all commands.

South Mountain is more restrictive than Cedar Mountain in two respects. It fixes AMs for both sides. The maximum for the Confederates is 3. For the Union, however, the maximum of 3 is attainable only by Reno or Hooker⁹ awarding their +1 Efficiency ratings to an in-command division leader. Out-of-command Confederate brigades may activate twice, but for out-of-command Union divisions the maximum is once.

Conclusions

At first glance GBACW’s varying approach to Efficiency may appear to be simply another reason for its complexity rating, but given the scope of battles the series covers, the variation is not surprising. Those battles differ not only in size, ranging from Chapultepec to Gettysburg, but also in the way the combatants are organized. Smaller battles feature more homogenized Efficiency. The fixed Efficiency for artillery and cavalry in some games represents the increasing independence these arms gained as the American Civil War continued.

The series also uses Efficiency to reflect leadership qualities. A comparison of Confederate and Union Efficiency “pools” for many games, and sometimes for scenarios within a game, plainly indicate the Designers’ perceptions of the field commanders involved. For smaller battles where Efficiency is fixed, it’s easy to reflect differences in quality, such as that between Mexican and US leadership. Similarly, 1862 Union cavalry generally wasn’t up to the challenge of tangling with the equestrian southerners, and this, too, is reflected in the way Death Valley handles cavalry Efficiency.

It is the case, then, that in GBACW the number of AMs a command receives reflects more than the factors listed in the Series Rules. It reflects each side’s historic capabilities, as well.

Footnotes

1. Series Rule 2.7 defines a “Command” as“A group of units commanded by a leader. This can be a brigade, a division, or a corps.”

2.  GBACW’s game on the Mexican War. Supplemented by Churubusco and Battles with the Gringos.

3.  AM = Activation Marker. Each command has one or more per turn, and activates when the marker is blindly drawn. There can also be AMs for specialized commands such as artillery, cavalry, or commands under March Orders.

4.  An army commander’s Initiative rating modifies the Initiative die roll at the start of each turn, provided he has at least one corps commander within his command range and did not use more than 10 MP in the previous turn (SR 5.11). That die roll determines which player will activate first.

5.  Command range is a numeric value printed on all leader counters. It represents the maximum distance, measured in Leader movement points, that can exist between the leader and a subordinate leader or unit, beyond which the subordinate leader or unit is out of command.

6.  A combat ineffective division is one in which the majority of brigades are combat ineffective.

7.  A combat ineffective brigade is one in which the majority of units are eliminated, routed, or Collapsed (at less than half-strength) at the start of a turn. A brigade is also combat ineffective if all its units are eliminated, routed, collapsed, or disordered at the start of a turn.

8.  Fatigue is a set of optional rules designed to simulate the exhausting nature of movement and combat.

9.  Generals Jesse Reno and Joseph Hooker are corps commanders in South Mountain.

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